I bought this for the name and because it was the biggest electric grill I could find. Certainly not the cheapest, but the only brand that is cast aluminum with stainless steel interior parts. It gets very hot when preheated for 20 minutes as outlined in the directions, so that when you put the meat on, it gets some char marks and cooks very quickly. It is great for anything like hamburgers, chicken burgers, chicken skewers that you want to have some char. I am going to have to learn how to cook slower things on a lower heat level. The only complaint is there is no temperature settings on the control....only relative heat level. I don't consider that a big deal, because for a small unit like this, it would never be accurate anyway. I have a wireless barbeque thermometer that reads inside the cooker and in the meat, so I will be doing some settings to see how it goes with bigger cuts of meat. So far, so good, and my apartment can't prohibit me from using it since it has no flame.I've had this grill for 4 years now and it's been great. I use electric since my apartment complex doesn't allow open flames. I wondered if it could be used as a smoker so I gave it a try recently.Well, it worked beautifully. I used a tray to achieve "indirect" heat to smoke a 7 lb. pork butt;for pulled pork. To get the smoke I used a smoke tube and wood pellets. Since there isn't a way to automatically control the temperature, I used a wireless thermometer with one probe for the roast and one to monitor the temperature inside the grill.I adjusted the control knob to get 225 - 250 degrees. Then set the thermometer to send an alarm if it went below or above those temps. The meat probe was set to 190 degrees. I did have to babysit it and make adjustments but it wasn't too bad.It took 8 hours and the roast turned out perfectly. They say not to use it for more than an hour but I had no issues at those temps. The next day I did smoked wings, thighs, corn and smoked Mac n Cheese. Everything was great!I highly recommend this grill for anyone needing an electric grill.I added the below to the review page for the griddle add-on for this item and thought it might be helpful here as well...IMPORTANT UPDATE 6/15/2014I ordered a second griddle because I prefer cooking on a flat surface since it is mainly veggies and small items. The plan was to replace BOTH the grates with these griddles but the instruction booklet that came with the griddle plate was very vague. There is a picture of an electric cord, which I am assuming means for the electric model-- and next to that is a picture of a flat griddle placed on the left side of the unit. There is a picture of the flat griddle placed on the right side, but that picture has a sad face. There is no other information provided for the electric model of this grill. Unfortunately, that is what happens when you try to create one instruction manual to cover multiple items that are very similar in appearance but VERY different as far as how they actually work.Under the sad face picture, it says "Do not use two griddles side by side on your Weber GAS grill." There is no mention of the electric version but the sad face concerned me. I just called Weber and they informed me that you cannot use two griddles side by side on this unit because it may overheat since the entire top will be covered and there's no real escape for all of the heat. Just a heads up if you are considering doing this. You can only use one and it should be placed on your left when you are standing in front of the grill. I totally get the reasoning for this but other electric griddles have flat tops and there is apparently no issue there. I did not want to chance it with this one without getting verification from Weber first.Original review:I picked this up a few days ago because I had been using a small, tabletop grill and wanted to go all out. It was much more expensive than the other offerings and I thought long and hard about the Meco versus this model. In the end, I chose this one because since this type of thing uses a lot of electricity, I figured the higher price would provide a much higher build quality. I cannot compare this to the Meco since I did not get that one, but the build quality on this grill is fantastic. Everything feels so well made.It is listed here as being over 40 pounds but I find that hard to believe. I did take it out of the box and put it in my car to take home and the unit without the cooking grates is nowhere near too heavy to carry up a flight of stairs. In fact, the box with the two grill plates was much heavier than the grill and that required two hands but was very doable.Assembly was very easy and my first dinner was grilled veggies and burgers. I use a mix of carrot chips, string beans and onions marinated in teriyaki sauce and had to put them in a small, square pan so they would not fall through. They came out great for the first go. The burgers were seared and well done as we like them and we were very pleased.I did notice that the surge protector that I have this plugged into (I do not have an outlet near the window so I am forced to use one) showed a very dim light on the "Overload" button but the circuit did not trip. Unfortunately, we are renters so changing anything electric wise is not allowed. The circuit did not trip and after several days of using it, we have had no problems as far as tripping the breaker, so that is good.Today, I grilled two shell steaks, some baby potatoes and the same mix of veggies. Today's dinner did not require a small pan because I bought the "griddle" attachment for this grill. It is available here on Amazon and you substitute that griddle for one of the slotted grates. This allows you to cook on a flat surface if needed and that's a great convenience. The griddle is not smooth like the grates are and that was a little disappointing but it really expands the possibilities on this grill.Dinner was great. The steaks had nice grill marks on them, the veggies and potatoes were good. The carrots were a little too crunchy for my taste so I know for next time. I'm looking forward to using this a lot this summer.Cleaning is a bit rough. We have a small sink but the grates fit in there and I soak them in hot soapy water for about 30 minutes once they are cool enough to remove from the unit. The inner jacket comes out as well and will need to be soaked and scrubbed. It's a job, but worth it to be able to cook outdoors and not have all that cooking heat in the apartment.All in all I am extremely pleased with this grill.I'm sure this is a 5 star electric grill and unfair to deduct because it isn't. It just doesn't heat as hot as a propane, which I can't have at condo. So I haven't mastered searing a steak with this, if that is possible. But it does allw me to fullfill my grilling needs, is easy to move around (and bring in for pending hurricanes) so I'm as happy as I can be with a propane substitute.Easy to clean and cooks flawlessly. Mounted on an aluminum stand and looks great!We live in a condominium that allows only electric grills. We searched for the best one and found it on Amazon. It's a Weber, studiedly built. It will draw enough electric current to trip the ground fault outlet meaning that the electric draw can exceed 15 amps. We found by starting off slowly in heating to maximum heat allowed all the components to adjust to the heavy draw of current and we are able to run at full current and at the maximum temperature provided by the grill. We generally grill steaks of all cuts, Lamb chops, and hamburgers. Clean-up is a breeze. There are the two removable heavy metal grilling surfaces, each covering ½ of the grill and the removable drip pan, all of which we clean in either the kitchen sink or the laundry room sink.This is the best electric grill hands down!!!I was hoping to get this and be able to get and awesome sear on my steaks or grill up chicken and get the BBQ sauce nice and sticky. You don't get that from this grill. It will cook the meat and I have adapted to use it for what it is but it's not a BBQ and never will be. Additionally it can not handle large quantities of meat. I put 12 chicken breasts on it and all the heat disappeared. It took twice as long to cook those breasts as it did to cook say 4.If you don't treat this has a BBQ and instead as an outdoor grill then you will be happy. If you are expecting a replacement for a BBQ prepare for disappointment.Just received & did some burgers only so far. It will take some getting used to as compared to Weber gas / propane units it’s much slower outside at this time of year. It would benefit enormously by having a built in thermometer in the hood as my gas Weber had. I purchased the bonnet protective cover & put it into service which I regret since I just discovered a full cover is available to enclose the unit & the cart. Looks excellent as a complete system !Parfait pour condo , camping etc.......le BBQ arrive presqu’entièrement monté....grille très bien les aliments......Entièrement satisfaite et en plus sécuritaireJe le conseille vivement......My old Q 2400 lasted 6 years. I abused it by not disconnecting the controller and bringing it indoors when not in use. I hope this one lasts longer with me taking better care this time. The Q 2400 is a bit pricey, but the build quality is very good...Living in an apartment that says you can only have electric barbecues leaves you with limited options but this BBQ works well. It is the second one of this type I have had over the years (Q140 previously. So this one is bigger and cleans much easier since the grills are shiny porcelain so not much sticks to them after burning it off. The inside aluminum pans also clean better than the previous version. It uses the same element as the smaller version (Q1400) so you might have to crank it up a little. Store the electric plug-in thermostat/heater part inside when not in use. I think that is why my previous one died after 5 years. All good, just wish it wasn't so pricey.